Star’s Celtic Desire Taken Into Account Admits Sporting Director | OneFootball

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Hammarby sporting director Mikael Hjelmberg has claimed that Sebastian Tounekti’s desire to join Celtic was taken into account by the club before deciding to accept the Hoops’ bid.

Tounekti joined Brendan Rodgers’ side after an undisclosed fee was accepted by Allsvenskan outfit Hammarby on deadline day.

Celtic saw bids rejected for the attacker, but eventually saw a proposal worth £5.5m accepted by the Swedish club.

Hammarby signed Tounekti from Norwegian side Haugesund only in February, earlier this year.

Hjelmberg said that though they wanted to keep Tounekti, Celtic’s offer was too advantageous to turn down.

The sporting director also stressed that Tounekti’s own desire was also factored into the decision to sell him to Celtic.

Hjelmberg told Hammarby’s club media: “Our ambition has always been to keep Sebastian during the summer window, but the final offer Celtic made was so lucrative that we valued the financial aspect in relation to what we would lose in terms of sport.

“With the options we have in our offensive positions, as well as Sebastian’s own will, the assessment is that the best thing for Hammarby is to accept Celtic’s offer.

“He has taken huge steps since he joined us last winter, and it is a good mark for the development environment we have in our operations, and an equally good mark for our scouting operations that we identified and brought in a player who has delivered at such a high level from the start.”

Hammarby have also sold Jusef Erabi to Belgian club Genk, highlighting the Swedish club’s smart recruitment.

During his six months at Hammarby, Tounekti managed three goals and five assists in 21 Allsvenskan matches.

Norway-born Tounekti has made two international appearances for Tunisia, debuting in 2021.

Celtic will play in the Europa League after being knocked out of the Champions League by Kazakh club Kairat.

Failing to score over two legs, Celtic looked toothless in attack and had been seeking to strengthen their forward line with interest in Kasper Dolberg registered, separate from Tounekti.

Celtic played out a goalless draw with Rangers in the Scottish Premiership, with both sides smarting from their European travails.

Brendan Rodgers and Hoops’ fans will hope Tounekti increases their threat going forward, though they will have to wait at least for another season to deploy him in the Champions League.